(Newser)
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The worst US oil spill in decades reached into precious shoreline habitat along the Gulf Coast as documents emerged showing British Petroleum downplayed the possibility of a catastrophic accident. In a plan filed with the federal Minerals Management Service, BP conceded a spill would impact beaches, wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas, but argued that "due to the distance to shore (48 miles) and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected."

"The point is, if you're going to be drilling in 5,000 feet of water for oil, you should have the ability to control what you're doing," said a Mississippi-based environmental lawyer, who added nothing in the report suggested BP addressed the technology required to control a spill at that depth. Many of the more than two dozen lawsuits filed claim the explosion was caused when workers for oil services contractor Halliburton improperly capped the well. Halliburton denied it.

I hope this bankrupts BP. They were supposed to have systems in place by 2003. BP went crying to Dick Cheney (who has a lot of oil $$$$ in his back pocket) and Cheney gave in. This isn't some drunken captain running aground. This is a systematic bureaucratic SNAFU. It turns out the valves in place on this rig are all jammed up. One of those acoustic triggering systems would not have worked. There's gonna be hell to pay in Congress & maybe (I Hope) an end to the oil lobbies control.

danwinters

May 2, 2010 9:21 AM CDT

where are all the eco-terrorists when you need one??i think ted kazinski had the right idea.i personally think bp and a few other business and govt need a package from teddy .just my opinion